Can attachment for removing filler plugs



May 7, 1957 A. R- BORDEN EI'AL CAN ATTACHMENT FOR REMOVING FILLER PLUGS Filed March 7, 1955 6 III iIL ' INVENTORS.

ALBERT R BORDEN mw/v J. AXELSEN 4, WMML ATTORNEYS l l illi United States Patent CAN ATTACHMENT FOR REMOVING FILLER PLUGS Albert R. Borden. and Irvin J. Axelsen, Richmond, Calif. Application March 7, 1955, Serial Na. 492,364

sclaims. (Cl..81-'3.-1)

This invention relates to an-attachment for containers for lighter fueland the like, and more particularlyto suchv an attachmentfo'r usein removing a. filler plug from a device ,to be filled with the-contents of suchcontainer.

Most. combustible. fluid. for. cigarette. lighters is .packaged in oval or other non-circular. containers, such as cans or bottles. Most such containers areprovided'with a neck. extending from the top thereofand a. cap on the open endof theneck. .Thesecaps. are usuallyof a type having a pouring spout forndirectingtthe container contents .into a small fuelhole in the lighter base- This hole in most. lighters is usually providedwithia threaded plug having a screwdriver slot therein. Itis common for lighterv owners .to. use a coin, nail'file, or the like for removing saidplug. This 'hole, conventionally, also gives access to thealighter .wick. Lightersare also often-provided with a.second,.sirnilar. screwplugfot access'to the lighter flint.

At least'one of these plugs.mustbe.removedeachtime the lighter is serviced, i. e.,. the..fiint or. wick'is renewed or the fuel chamber filled. Hence, the search-foran instrument to unscrew said plugs, isanunnecessary, bother some task It is therefore an objectsofzthis invention toprovide an attachment for fluid containers for. removing filler plugs.

It is another object of this invention to provide a container attachment. having: a blade; extending over the edge of the container for unscrewingfiller plugs in cigarette lighters and the like.

Still. anothenobject of thisinvention sis thezprovision of-a container attachment for. removing filler plugs, which attachment 'is' swingable from a. positionzwithin Ltheed-ge confines of the container to a position extending outwardly of said container.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the top portion of a container showing the device of this invention in position for use;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the container of Fig. 1, the stowed position of the device of this invention being shown in dot-dash lines;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view, partly broken away to show structure, of the container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the preferred form of the device of this invention;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 3, showing a modified form of cap;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation view similar to Fig. 3, but showing a modified form of the device of this invention in use on a different container; and,

Fig. 7 is a partial sectional view taken substantially along line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

In detail, the device of this invention, generally designated 1, is for use with a container 2, such as a can or r 2,791,140 Fatented May 7, 1957 ice bottle for lighter fluid'o'r the like. Such container normally provided with a cap 3, covering the open end of a neck 4"(Fig. 3) extending upwardly from thetop 5 of-said container. Said cap 3may be provided with a spout 6'forinjecting the contents of container 2 into a small hole, such as the fuel hole in a cigarette lighter.

The device 1 of this invention comprises a ring membet 7 (Fig. 4) having an aperture 8 therethrough for receiving neck 4 of container 2. Integral with and extending from ring member-7 is-a blade 9'having a squared end 10 for insertion into a screwdriver slot in a filler plug or the like. Said blade and ring member are adapted to swing about the axisof neck 4 which is conventionally coincidental with the axis of container 2.

This device 1 is forusewith' containers of the type'described-which are-conventionally ofanoval, rectangular or other non-circular cross-section. Hence, in its operable position (shown in solid lin'es in-Fig. 2) blade 9 extends outwardly of the edge of container 2, but, upon swinging'deviee- 1 in-the direction of the arrow'of Fig. 2, blade 9-assumes its stowed position, indicated by 'dotdash I i-11611, within the edge confines of container 2. i It willbe noted from Fig. 3 that blade- 9 is disposed generally abovethe plane of the upper chime" 12 of container 2; so asto be able to swing freely from the stowedposi-tio-n tothe operable-position.

Ring member: 7 is adapted-' -to be interposedbetween the underside arcane: andthe top 50f container; 2'. In this positiongboth said-underside of said cap and top 5 act as bearing surtaces' i in frictional engagement with ring member fl. Hence, the friction betweensaidring and: the cap 3 and-'top fi may be sufiicient tohold -blade- 9 frorn' turning-from theissolid-1ine osition-shown in Fig. 2whe'nsa'id blade is: beingused to remove a filler plug.

It is understoodth'at lighter -fuel-and= the-'lil eis norm'allylipackaged 'i n cans,' the s'iz'eof whichare' fieicible to permitzsqueezing-for ejecting't-he can contents-from spout :6. Therefore, container 2 ;will hereafter 'be--'-re'- ferre'd tolas' acan' in which the levelof top- 5 is" somewhat below the. upper edge: of chime' 12 Bladeis consequently formed with-1a bent portion 13 joining the. main" bentportion. 13 may virtually engagetheinner side of chime 12 (Fig. 7) to restrain the swinging' -of s'aid lilade. Bent portion 13 cooperating in this manner with chime 12, then, provides the second means of restraining the movement of blade 9 from its operative position. It is desirable to provide some such means for facilitating the action of blade 9 as the screwdriver blade and can 2 as the handle for such blade.

Other means may be provided for preventing movement of blade 9 from the operative position of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 discloses a raised detent 15 on ring member 7 which is adapted to be received in the groove 16 in the underside of cap 3 which blade 9 is in the operative position. Since cap 3 is constructed of a yieldable plastic or the like, detent 15 deforms the underside of said cap from the stowed to the operative position, snapping into groove 16 when blade 9 reaches the operative position.

Alternatively, the underside of cap 3 may be provided with a recess 17 (Fig. 5), extending around slightly more than a quadrant and providing shoulders 18, 19 at either end thereof. The relation between detent 15 and shoul ders 18, 19 is such that said detent contacts shoulder 18 when blade 9 is in the stowed position. Upon movement in a counterclockwise direction in Fig. 2, detent 15 moves into engagement with shoulders 18 which is so Not only does placed so as to limit the travel of blade 9 to a slightly off-center position shown by the dash line 20 in Fig. 2. When it is in this position the force applied to end 10, in unscrewing a filler plug, tends to swing blade 9 counterclockwise from position 20. This movement is prevented by the engagement of detent 15 with shoulder 19 which thereby limits swinging of blade 9 in one direction from its operative position. Blade 9 may be moved to its stowed position without interference, and is held from moving past said stowed position by detent 15 engaging shoulder 18. A device 21 similar to device 1 is shown in Fig. 6 in use with a slightly different type of can 22. Can 22 is provided with a short neck portion 24 formed integrally with top 25 thereof. A conical spout 26, having its base end secured in neck portion 24, extends outwardly therefrom and is conventionally provided with a cap 23 at its outer end. Can 22 is further provided with an upper chime 32 surrounding top 25.

Device 21 similarly comprises a ring member 27 having an aperture 28 therethrough, and a blade 29 extending therefrom. Ring member 27 may be slipped over neck portion 24 either before or after the formation of the ridge 30 at the upper end of said neck portion for securing spout 26 in place. Device 21 is therefore adapted to swing about the axis of neck portion 24 in a manner similar to that described.

Blade 29 is also provided with a bent portion 33 joining the main portion of said blade to ring member 27. It will be noted from Fig. 6 that the main portion of blade 29 extends slantingly upwardly from bent portion 33, and that adjacent said bent portion, the underside of blade 29 is slightly lower than the upper edge of chime 32. Upon swinging blade 29 from its stowed position, within the edge confines of can 22, to its operative position, extending outwardly therefrom, the underside of blade 29 frictionally engages the upper edge of chime 32 to provide further means for retaining said blade in the operative position.

It is known that spouts are sometimes swingably secured to the opening of a large can for the purpose of directing the flow of the can contents outwardly of the edge of the can. Such spouts, however, are incapable of being operated in the manner and for the purposes of this invention for the reasons that they are flexible and not rigid enough to act as a screwdriver, and/ or the can on which they are mounted is too large and bulky to be able to act as a handle for the spout.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, such is not to be taken as restrictive thereof, since it is obvious that modifications could be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. In combination with a container for lighter fluid and the like having a neck and a cap on the open end of said neck, a filler plug removal attachment comprising: a member having an aperture for receiving said neck for swinging about said neck and a blade extending from said member and outwardly of the edge of said container in one position and being swingable to a position wholly within the edge confines of said container, said member being interposed between and in frictional engagement with the under side of said cap and the top of said container, a detent on said member and a shoulder on the under side of said cap engageable by said detent for limiting swinging of said blade in one direction from said one position.

2. In combination with a can for lighter fluid and the like having a neck, a filler plug removal attachment comprising: a member having an aperture for receiving said neck for swinging about said neck, and a blade extending from said member and outwardly of the edge of said can in one position and being swingable to a position wholly within the edge confines of said can, said blade being in frictional engagement with the upper chime of said can when in said one position.

3. In combination with a container having a recessed upper end of horizontally elongated outline provided a pair of relatively short opposed sides and a pair of relatively long opposed sides, an upstanding centrally apertured neck on said upper end disposed substantially centrally between said long opposed sides, and an elongated blade swingably supported on said neck for movement from an inoperative position projecting to one side of said neck and with said blade and the portion engaging said neck wholly disposed within the upwardly projecting confines of the outline of said upper end and between said long opposed sides whereby said can will protect said blade against accidental movement of the latter to a position extending across and beyond one of said long opposed sides whereby said container Will provide a handle for manipulating said blade when said blade is in said last mentioned position, said blade snugly embracing said neck whereby the latter provides a support holding said blade against longitudinal movement in all positions of said blade.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hotchkiss Jan. 23, 1877 Payson May 5, 1885 Zautner Feb. 12, 1952 

